Had my haircut this morning. Not much new or interesting there, but the woman who cuts my hair told me that her significant other is considering quitting driving a truck all over the country and instead temporarily moving to Mississippi or Louisiana to help with the clean-up efforts from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He's heard that contractors and other organizations are hiring people with chain saw and handyman type experience for $20 per hour. As a long haul truck driver, he's been clearing about $1,000 per month. So at $20 per hour he can make almost 3.5 times as much doing storm clean-up work than driving a truck.

Seems to me that he can make even more by working for himself. He owns a chain saw and knows how to use it safely, so he could just go door-to-door and make $500 or so per house for a few hours of work. I've heard many homeowners have been paying thousands of dollars to vultures who always seem to descend on victims when they are the most desperate. $500 to clear a huge downed tree is pretty reasonable, and for someone who knows what they're doing and can do it safely and quickly it is very good money. And it sure beats driving a truck across the country day after day for someone who enjoys the company of others.